The Global Gag Rule is Failed Policy That Increases Abortion and Condemns Women to Die Needlessly

We have been here many times before with the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule. Ronald Reagan originally enacted the policy in 1984 with the aim of defunding international aid agencies that mention abortion as an option for women anywhere in the world in need of family planning or health services. Reagan and every other Republican president, including Trump, enact it to appease anti-abortion groups.

The Global Gag Rule has predictably ping-ponged between parties holding power, with Democratic presidents cancelling it (Clinton and Obama) and Republican presidents re-enacting it (both Bushes and Trump).

Evidence: Twenty years of global data show that the Global Gag Rule actually increases the abortion rate in countries where it’s in effect.

For example, Bush Jr. re-enacted the Global Gag Rule when he took office in 2001. The data for abortion rates in Sub-Saharan Africa show a steady increase in abortion rates every year the policy remains in effect from 2001 through 2008 (Bendavid, Avila and Miller, 2012). The increase tops out at 250% in 2008. Then Obama takes office and cancels the policy.

A closer look at the data in Sub-Saharan Africa show that areas with high enforcement of the global gag rule (and therefore low access to family planning services) experience up to 100% higher rates of abortion than areas where the policy is enforced less strictly.

Reasoning: The Global Gag Rule increases abortion when in effect because women are desperate to control their fertility and will risk their lives to do so (WHO, 2005). Women experience approximately 46 million unwanted pregnancies per year globally under difficult conditions that include sexual assault, confinement to refugee camps, lack of resources, severe illness, and dire poverty.

Conclusion: the Global Gag Rule increases the global abortion rate.

II. Claim: The Global Gag Rule promotes forms of family planning that protect the unborn child.

Evidence: Twenty years of global data show that the Global Gag Rule increases maternal death from unsafe abortion, which harms the child.

For example, looking again at data from Sub-Saharan Africa, McGinn and Casey (2016) find that by 2008 (7 years after Bush re-enacted the Global Gag Rule):

Nearly half of abortions worldwide, and 97 % of those in sub-Saharan Africa, are unsafe [15]. Up to 50 % of women who have unsafe abortions seek care for complications, including hemorrhage, sepsis, perforated uterus and trauma to internal organs [14]. The risk of death due to unsafe abortion is 90 unsafe abortion-related maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in sub-Saharan Africa, three times the global average of 30 per 100,000 live births [16].

Reasoning: Unsafe abortion needlessly kills women who want to control their fertility. Here is the math for Sub-Saharan Africa for 2008 (the last year of the Bush Jr. years):

Live births number approximately 178,000,000 (birth rate of 31 per 1,000 people; 5.5 billion people)

There are 90 maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion for every 100,000 live births (McGinn and Casey 2016)

Factoring these two rates, there are 0.18 live births per million people

This translates into 33 million live births per year

Multiply by the death rate due to unsafe abortion, and there were 30,000 women who died in 2008 alone because of unsafe abortion forced by the Global Gag Rule

Conclusion: By re-enacting the Global Gag Rule, Trump condemns 20,000 women in Africa to die by the end of his first term. There will be thousands more in other countries.

Bottom line: Support full spectrum family planning services and anti-poverty measures in order to reduce global abortion rates and save women’s lives.

If you want to decrease abortion, support a permanent pan on the Global Gag Rule and support anti-poverty measures that make it easier for women to nurture children.

If you want to support women’s rights as human rights, support a permanent pan on the Global Gag Rule and support anti-poverty measures that make it easier for women to nurture children.

The conference room was packed at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon as I prepared to give a public talk and workshop at the 2016 NSTA conference in Nashville, TN, on how I use enhanced exit tickets in my science classroom to increase student accountability. What surprised me most was how awake and engaged the participants were after a long week of conferencing. We reviewed what an effective exit ticket looks like, and we explored the kind of evidence it generates and how to use that information to be more responsive to student needs. Participants also created their own enhanced exit tickets to take back to their classrooms. I left energized and ready to share this amazing evidence-based teaching strategy with others.

The 2015 Kyoto Prize in basic sciences went to Michel Mayor, a Swiss astrophysicist credited with the first discovery of an extrasolar planet, 51 Pegasi b. I had the chance to talk with Dr. Mayor about his work at the Kyoto Prize gala held at UC San Diego in April 2016. One of the hardest tasks that I perform while talking to and interviewing scientists is parsing accents, which are often complex linguistic mixtures that result from globalized collaborations.

Dr. Mayor’s accent is very thick Swiss-French, and for a few minutes I was utterly baffled by his discussion of the “hockey” planet until he said “hadius”. Then I realized that he meant “radius”. This led me to realize that he was describing 51 Pegasi b as a “rocky” planet. Lucky for me, Dr. Adam Burgasser, an astrophysicist credited with discovering a class of stars called “T Dwarfs” was able to explain the discovery process in his easy-to-understand Buffalo, NY, accent. I made the mental corrections to Dr. Mayor’s comments before I embarrassed any of us.

I recently joined the team at Seasons of La Jolla magazine as a freelance contributor. James Tully and Matthew Lyons publish the quarterly glossy. My first piece appears in the Winter 2014 edition entitled “Seven Caves in the Cliffs” and uncovers the history of La Jolla’s famous sea caves. What I enjoyed most about writing the piece was talking with historian and author Carol Olten of the La Jolla Historical Society–and of course–doing my research on site at the beach.

I spoke with visual artist Tara Knight about what robots are doing in Japan, across cultural and digital divides, specifically Hatsune Miku. She is Japan’s most popular teen vocaloid character. Knight recently toured the U.S., including appearances on late night television, talking about her interactive documentary of Hatsune Miku called “Mikumentary“. Knight breaks with the traditional notion of artist and audience as separate from art.

Knight’s work with Hatsune Miku challenges the notion that adolescence is a life stage we outgrow. Miku reveals that digital technology, when applied to art and culture, allows even the most socially fixed among us can regain access to many possible identities through creative expression. Her work also challenges what it means to be an artist.

I believe in helping scientists, engineers and other professionals authentically promote their core personal projects (e.g., the things we lose track of time while doing, would do for free, or experience with passion).

Traditionally, researchers and scientists make their work known to the world through publications in peer-reviewed journals and indirectly through writers (like me!) and magazines. However, in today’s work world technology has become an integral part of everyday life. It is possible to spread information quickly and directly with social media, which can potentially reach millions of people through direct engagement and community creation. Now researchers and scientists may connect their core personal projects directly with the public.

I lead an engaging workshop that helps professionals uncover and connect with their core projects, and then promote them authentically in the digital space in a way that is not exhausting and boosts career success. I give this workshop as a community service, and would love to talk about how I might help your group. If you like, ping me on Twitter @genevivebjorn to start a convo or click here to learn more about me.

Eating healthy has never been more confusing: eat less cholesterol but eat more good fat, eat more fiber but fewer carbs, eat more fruit and dairy but less sugar. Trying to make sense of it all can drive a person crazy!

That’s why I started RecipesinSeason.org. We focus on eating fruits, vegetables and staples that are fresh, in season and highly nutritious. We share hundreds of quick and easy recipes that you can try tonight.

If you’ve got a great recipe to share, join us as a contributor. The community behind cooking with seasonal foods keeps us sane and happy. Here’s to better health!